Rail-joint.



No. 673,829. Patented May 7, I90l.

iran rares artnr rricn.

CONSTANTINE B. VOYNOW, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO HENRY B. NICHOLS, OF SAME PLAGE.

Rmb-JOINT.

SPECIFIGATION :forming part of Letters Patent No, 673,829, dated May 7, 1901.

Application filed December 14, 1900. Serial No. 39,820. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may con/cern,.- machinery for such operations must be used Be it known that I, OONSTANTINE B. VOY- of an exceedingly complicated character and NOW, a citizen of the United States, residing cumbersome form, and even with such it reat the city of Philadelphia, in the county of quires expert mechanical skill to operate the 55 Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have saine to obtain any results, and far from be'- invented certain new and useful Improveing satisfactory. ments in Rail-Joints, of which the following The principal object of my present invenis a specification. tion is to provide a simple and perfect joint My invention has relation toa rail-joint for for the meeting ends of rail-sections; and to 6o IO the contiguous ends of meeting rails. this end the invention consists, primarily, of a Heretofore the simplest form of joint for box wherein the meeting ends of the rails are meeting ends of rails consisted of fish-plates inclosed and the box becomes a fixture with arranged on either' side of the rail and abutthe rails, and between the interior of which ting under the head and against the foot of box and the inclosed rails a space or chamber 55' the rail-sections, the fish-plates being firmly is formed, into which a suitable material is inclamped to the rail-sections by bolts or simitroduced to constitute a bed, in which the raillar means. The disadvantages of this form sections are supported to ll out all irreguof joint are well known and an enumeration larities formed on the surface of the rails and of the same is unnecessary. It has also been the box, the box constituting the support for 7o zo suggested that the joint between the meeting the bed, as well as for the rail-sections.

rails be made by castinga comparatively large My invention further consists of a rail-joint mass of metal to the under face of the head, constructed and arranged in substantially the to the web, and to the foot of the rail-sections, manner hereinafter described and claimed. the rail-sections being heated, so that a form The nature and scope of my present inven- 75 of welded union between the cast mass and tion will be more fully understood from the the rail-sections would result. In practice it following description, taken in connection has been found that such a jointis defective with the accompanying drawings, forming in that the contiguous head or tread portions part hereof, in whichof the rail-sections are distorted and form Figure l is atop or plan view of arail-joint 8o eitheraconcave or convex continuation of the embodying main features of my invention, a rail-heads. Where the continuation was conportion of the rails and joint being illustrated vex, it was necessary to grind down the proin horizontal section to more clearly show the tuberance; but where the continuation was construction and arrangement of the joint. concave no adequate means for remedying Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of Fig. 1. 85 the defect has thus far been suggested. Be- Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on the sides, the intense heat anneals the ends of the line .fr @c of Fig. l. Fig. 4 is a View similar rails. It has also been suggested to provide to Fig. 3, but illustrating a modified form of a rail-joint by mounting the meeting ends of fastening securing the box in operative pothe rail-sections in an inclosure or mold and sition with respect to the rail-sections; and 9o 4o holding the same therein by bolts or tighten- Fig. 5 is a horizontal view of a still further ing devices during the pouring of a molten modiiied form of fastening. massaround or about the rail-sections tojoin Referring to the drawings, in which my them and by the fusion of such a mass with improved joint is illustrated as applied to the rail-sections within the inclosure to make sections of tram-rails, a d represent the con- 95 an integral structure of the rail-sections, cast tiguous webs of the sections, and b the tread,

material, and mold. The objections to such d the tram, and e the foot7 of each rail. Inrail-joints in the main are similar to those closing the web a and foot e of the rail-sechereinabove explained, and, moreover, in tion is a box or shell j', which, as illustrated practice it has been demonstrated that it is in the drawings, is preferably made in two roo 5o next to impossible to attain a fusion-pointsufpieces or halves, although it may be formed ficientlyhigh in such operations,and,besides, from a single piece or casting without departing from the spirit of my invention. When placed in position so as to inclose the rail-section, it becomes, with the rail-sec-v tions, a fixture of the structure, within which the metal lining is inserted for not only'compensating for irregularities in the construction of the rail-sections, but also in the box or shell, and thereby forming by the construction of the said two elements-to wit, the box or shell and lining-a perfect support for the contiguous meeting ends of the rail-sections. The box or shell ffits under the tread b, foot e, and tram d of the railsections, abutting only at certain points against the rail-sections as a retained fixture of the structure, there being a space formed between the box and the adjacent inclosed parts of the rail-sections into which a bed, filler, or lining gis introduced in any suitable manner. This bed, filler, or lining g may consist of metal-such, for instance,'as zinc, type-metal, Babbitt metal, or the likeor it may consist of other materials, such as sulfur or the like. At various portions of the rail-sections the webs a are shown as perforated to permit the bed, filler, or lining g to penetrate the webs, as illustrated in Fig. 1, and, if desired, the walls of thev shell or boxf may be vertically recessed to forni dovetailed slots into which the material may enter to form dovetailed locking ends g2. The bed, filler, or lining g, as clearly illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, lcompletely surrounds the foot e of each rail-section. It covers both faces of the web a, and it also lies under the tread b and tram d of the rail-sections. The box or shell f, with the bed, filler, or lining g, serves to maintain the rail-sections in a fixed relative position to each other.

To prevent either longitudinal or lateral movement of the rail-sections in the box or shell and for securely maintaining the box or shell in required relationship to the said sections, several forms of tying the box or shell f to said rail-sections have been illustrated. Thus in Figs. l and 3 the webs a and the vertical wallsf of the box f have both been transversely recessed to permit of the passage and seating of an inverted-U-shaped bolt h. The heads h of these bolts h rest when the bolts are in position against the outside of the vertical walls f of said box, and also rest in cups f2, formed on said walls. When the filler or lining is introduced between the box and railsections, it fills the transverse recess with a plug g3 of the filler or lining, and it also lls the space between the heads of the bolts h and the cups f2, as clearly illustrated at g4 in Fig. 3, thereby preventing any movement of the plug g3. By virtue of this arrangement all torsional or longitudinal movement of the rails is taken up bythe bolts h and the box or shell f, and the strain is therefore upon said bolts and box. Unless the bolts or box break no disarrangement of the rails in the box can take place.

In Fig. 4 another means of fastening or tyerases ing the rails in the box or shellfis illustrated. In this form a staple h2 projects from the inner face of one vertical wall f of the box and traverses a slot or recess formed in the web a and the other wall f of the said box and projects sufciently beyond said other wall f to permit of the introduction of a wedge h3 between the said wall and the rounded or square end of the staple. When the bed, filler, or lining gis introduced between the shell and the rail-sections, it iioats into, iills out,

and surrounds, as at g5, the recess in the web a and the other wall f', through which the staple h2 was passed, thereby completely locking the said wedge h3 in the staple and against the box or shellf.

In Fig. 5 still another form of fastening is illustrated, which consists of a link h4, passed through a slot formed in both wallsf and the web a, and two wedgesV h5, passed respectively between the ends of the link 77.4 and a wall f' of the box f. In this form the rest of the recess or slot not occupied by the link h4 is filled out by the bed or filler g, as at g, which surrounds the wedges h5, as in Fig. 5, and thereby securely locking them in position and against movement. The sides f of the boxf may,if desired,be reinforced or strengthened by angular iins or ribs f3, and its base also strengthened by a rib or iin f4.

Having thus described the nature and object of my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a rail-joint, the combination with the meeting ends of rail-sections and a box or shell in which said ends are wholly or in part inclosed, of a bed, filler or lining adapted to be introduced into the space between the box and rail-sections to completely separate the parts of the sections within the box from the adjacent parts of said box, said bed', filler or lining contacting with the box and with the rail-sections and consisting of a material of a lower welding, fusing or melting point than the metal of either the box or the rail-sections.

2. In a rail-joint, the combination with the meeting ends of rail-sections and a box or shell, wherein the said ends are wholly or in part inclosed, of a bed, filler or lining adapted to be introducedl into the space between the box and rail-sections to completely separate the parts of the sections within the box from the adjacent parts of said box, said bed, filler or lining contacting with the box and with the rail-sections and consisting of a material of a lower Welding, fusing or melting point than the metal of either the box or of the rail-sections, and means extending through the box and rail sections to prevent longitudinal movement of the rail-sections in the box.

3. In a rail-joint, the combination with railsections and a box or shell shaped to conform to the exterior of the web, foot and underhead portions of said rail-sections, abed, ller or lining consisting of a substance or material whose welding, fusing or melting point is IOO IIO

@rase lower than the metal of eithei` said box or shell or rail-sections, and said bed, filler or lining contacting with said web, foot and underhead portions of said rail-sections to form a support for said rail-sections within said box or shell.

4. In a rail-joint, the combination of railsections, a box or shell having'its interior shaped to inclose the web, foot and underhead portions of said rail-sections, and abutting only at certain portions, and a bed, ller or lining consisting of a substance or material whose welding, fusing or melting point is lower than the metal of either said box or shell or rail-sections, and said bed, filler or lining separating those parts which do not abut.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my signature in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CONSTANTINE B. VOYNOW;

Witnesses:

J. WALTER DoUGLAss, THOMAS M. SMITH 

